What’s Probably Preventing You From Getting the Most From Your Human Potential Efforts
You’ve most likely arrived on this page because:
- You’re devoted to your own development BUT no matter how many Human Potential resources you’ve invested in — and no matter how many bits and pieces of value you might have gotten from these — you’re still not getting all of the results you’ve been seeking.
- You’re a helping professional who, despite all the work you’ve done on yourself and the training you’ve gotten in how to help others, is still not as effective with your clients as you want to be.
If either of these things is true for you, my heart is very much with you. As a psychologist who has held a variety of leadership roles in the Human Potential field since the 1970s, I see two key reasons why so many well-intended people have fallen short in converting their higher intentions into the results they seek. And I would like to offer you access to a free resource that might just help you go the rest of the way.
First, the two big reasons I believe the Human Potential movement has fallen short in its mission…
How the Human Potential Movement Got Bogged Down: Silos & Training Traps
Most of us have become accustomed to using one set of resources for various aspects of our personal development, another for our personal relationship development, yet another to improve collaboration at work, yet others for our entrepreneur development, and still others for our leadership development. That’s what I mean by Silos. In my view this fracturing of the Human Potential field has been going on for so long that most people hardly think twice about it. Why does this matter? Siloed development is inefficient. It means spending more time and money on our development than what might actually be needed!
On top of that, it seems to me that far too many Human Potential “gurus” have fallen prey to three major Training Traps:
- The Inspirational Selling Trap: Many high profile figures in the Human Potential fields are touching, persuasive and charismatic in how they speak about: A) Our highest aspirations; B) The challenges that seem to stand between us and our aspirations; and C) What we can do to eliminate those challenges and fully manifest our aspirations. Most of these thought leaders are also highly gifted at selling costly programs of theirs. The problem is that Inspirational Sellers by and large tend to be far stronger on motivating than on providing step-by-step solutions, and this too often means that many people they enroll in their programs end up feeling like they didn’t get what they were looking for. So, what do many end up doing? They spend even more money on more advanced training that these folks offer. Too many consumers of Human Potential resources ultimately end up feeling like they’ve invested in a money pit that hasn’t provided enough of a return on their investment to justify the time and money they’ve devoted to their development.
- The Situational High Trap: Some high profile Human Potential leaders are particularly gifted at providing people with powerful experiences during their training programs. Experiences that activate insights that feel profound…at the time. Experiences that induce levels of aliveness that feel compelling…at the time. Experiences that stir up motivation that feels unstoppable…at the time. The problem is that after these Situational High experiences, many people find that: A) Their new insights were true but not useful; B) Their new levels of aliveness were temporary rather than lasting; and C) Their supposedly unstoppable motivation has not consistently converted into sustained results. And many of these folks then enroll in more and more “Situational High” programs in the hope that the shifts will somehow eventually “stick.”
- The Positive Thinking Trap: Some high profile Human Potential leaders do provide training in some valuable “positive psychology” mindset training and skills in addition to inspiration and situational highs. However, the big problem with Positive Thinking techniques is when we place sweet smelling positive thoughts on top of our unresolved baggage, all we get is sweet smelling baggage! Over-relying on changing thoughts as the be-all-end-all causes far too many people to feel like something’s wrong with them when all their positive thinking efforts don’t end up producing the results they desire (and often were promised).
I’m really sad that these Silos and Training Traps are as prevalent as they are in the Human Potential movement. I’m also excited because these problems can be corrected in ways that will make it possible for the Human Potential movement to take a next huge step forward in helping people boost their effectiveness.
I believe this can best happen is by:
- Unifying the Silos.
- Repairing the Training Traps.
- Providing training in the foundational mindsets & skills that success in all areas of Human Potential depend upon. (Yes, you read that right: in my experience, all of these areas of Human Potential look to me like they have the same set of foundational mindsets and skills in common.)
This three-pronged approach is, to me, the key to making our development far more efficient and less expensive than ever before. The best parallel to what I’m envisioning is the shift from conventional medicine to integrative health & medicine. It’s now Human Potential’s turn to adopt an integrative approach!
If you’re plugging into what I’m saying here, I’m confident that you’re going to love the solution I’m about to describe, and that you’ll want to gain free access to the new resource that I’m launching for this purpose.
The Solution? Unified Human Potential
As I said, the time has come for us to replace Siloed development with a unified integrated approach to developing ourselves. Unified Human Potential includes:
- Personal & financial wellbeing
- Authenticity
- Collaboration effectiveness in personal & work relationships
- Entrepreneur effectiveness & job fulfillment
- Impact effectiveness in helping to bring about a better world
- Leadership effectiveness
- Personal integrity & social responsibility
Being efficient in our Unified Human Potential efforts starts with mastering the foundational mindsets & skills that seem to be necessary for succeeding with all of the above aspects of our development.
The time has also come for the Human Potential movement to outgrow the Training Traps I mentioned above and instead combine:
- Inspiration & motivation
- Mindsets & roadmaps
- HeartSpiritMindBody-expansion experiences
- Skills & procedures that empower us to remove blocks we carry so we actually do become capable of embedding the beliefs & habits we desire
- Accountability effectiveness that help us consistently use these skills & procedures in our everyday life to attain the results we seek at home, at work, and in other things we do to have positive influence in the world
And it’s time for the Human Potential field to replace manipulative hypnotic selling tactics with true informed consent approaches to selling.
The next big step in the evolution of the Human Potential movement that I see is empowering us to live our lives at the level of our highest intentions instead of living our lives at the level of our psychological baggage & skills limitations. And no, this is not a pie-in-the-sky pipe dream. It’s what I’ve long referred to as the Education in Being Human We Always Needed & Never Got™ and as Self-Development That Serves Us All.™ Welcome to Human Potential 2.0!
Can I Really Help You Get More From Human Potential Resources?
After having received recognition and awards in just about every area of Human Potential over the course of my 40+ year career, my focus is now on trailblazing the emergence of what I have come to call “Unified Human Potential.”
What qualifies me to do this? First and foremost, this is the framework I’ve needed for my own development but haven’t found elsewhere. Second, the wide range of experience and expertise I’ve been recognized as having places me in an ideal position to do this. My past reluctance to toot my own horn has caused many people who know me professionally to be unaware of this. So, here’s the scoop:
- My PhD is in both clinical & organizational development psychology. Clinical psychology primarily focuses on personal development. Organizational development psychology primarily focuses on how leadership & culture development in businesses, nonprofits and other institutions.
- My books have won awards (some more than once) in politics, society, & social change, in business & leadership, in health & wellness, in mental health & psychology, and in self-help. (My unusually integrative approach to psychology is largely the result of my father steeping me in Constitutional Law — this was his first love as an attorney and we discussed it an awful lot while I was growing up — combined with the profound ways my world view was permanently transformed through having been at Woodstock when I was 15. This combination is a big part of why my books have won awards in such a wide range of categories.)
- I’ve designed approximately training & certification programs since 1972, ranging from 2 hours to 5 days in length, and have provided keynotes, training programs & mentoring in 7 countries on 3 continents in virtually all areas of Human Potential.
- I’ve co-founded, led, consulted to, and served on boards of for-profit businesses and nonprofit organizations. This includes businesses, nonprofits, healthcare & mental health organizations, educational institutions, and governance groups, and it includes experience turning silos into a collaborative field.
- I’m Co-Head of Faculty for a large international entrepreneur development organization and a Lead Faculty member with the California Institute for Human Science.
- I was an administrator for the first integrative health & medicine organization in the 1970s and was founding president of an integrative psychology organization in the late 1990s.
- I didn’t merely win a leadership award — one was named in my honor back in 2001.
- Radio & TV Reports named me America’s Integrity Expert in 2008, and in addition to having given literally hundreds of media interviews, I’ve been featured in Forbes 15 times and counting.
- I have taught courses on the psychology of converting life energy into money by combining my psychological expertise with what my Dad taught me as a CPA & Tax Attorney (this is what he did in his career even though his first love was Constitutional Law).
- I’m honored to have been extensively featured in Bruce Wright’s latest book, Transcendent Thought & Market Leadership, including this quote: “Dr. Gruder’s work… combines a universal framework that integrates integrity and happiness, with key mindsets, skills, and procedures that make integrity profitable.”
- Dr. Constance Wells, a now-retired Senior Vice President at Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, said, “I wouldn’t be at all surprised if ‘Dr. David Gruder’ became a household name as the person who spearheaded a massive transition and transformation in our individual, relational and societal integrity & wholeness.”
- Dr. Dawson Church, publisher of Elite Books and Founder of the Soul Medicine Institute, went even further by stating that “David’s insights may result in him one day being regarded as the ‘Sigmund Freud’ of the twenty-first century.”
As I look back on my unusual career trajectory now that I’m in my early 60s, it now seems pretty clear that I’ve been groomed all along to help birth Unified Human Potential, no? Best of all, I’m really excited to make the following announcement. I hope you’re as excited to read it as I am to write it!
My Invitation to You: A Free Charter Subscription to My Inner Circle
Ushering in the “Age of Unified Human Potential” (UHP) feels like the culmination of my life’s work; the ultimate fulfillment of my mission and legacy. To open this new chapter, I’ve created an Inner Circle program and I’m inviting you to join it. Free.
As an Inner Circle member you’ll get regular emails from me. Each will contain a Two-Minute UHP Tidbit. It will be a quick tip, question or exercise for you to play with that day. One that I’ve specially designed to help you keep moving forward with your integrated development in effective and fun ways.
Many of the emails you’ll receive from me will include a “Go Deeper” option. That way, when particular UHP Tidbits speak to you, you’ll be able to delve further into that topic. “Go Deeper” options include links to:
- Informative videos or articles on that UHP Tidbit Topic
- Webinar or mini-webinars related to that UHP Tidbit Topic
- A book, movie or training opportunity I’ve created or recommend for building your mastery in that UHP area more fully.
Inner Circle membership is open to you if you’re:
- Passionately dedicated to your ongoing development (and the development of those you serve)
- An integrity-centered entrepreneur, difference maker, or helping professional. (If not, you’re still welcome to join as long as you know that a significant number of emails you’ll receive will be geared to those groups.)
- Wanting access to my expertise as a central go-to resource for more effectively achieving your development goals and life aspirations.
IMPORTANT: Inner Circle Terms & Conditions
The links you’ll find in the UHP Tidbit emails you’ll receive as a free Inner Circle member will often be to free resources. Some will be to resources you can purchase when useful to you. Of those, some will be to resources I don’t make money from while others will generate revenue for me. As an Inner Circle member, my focus is on providing you with the best resources I know of, regardless of whether or not I stand to gain financially from you utilizing them.
You can be confident that I will not be providing resource links to things I don’t recommend. For instance I won’t be promoting resources as favors to people, businesses or nonprofits who simply seek your eyeballs. You can also be certain that I will educate you about the resources I recommend, so you can make informed choices, rather than manipulate you into purchasing things you don’t need at this time — or perhaps ever.
If you subscribe now, you will become an Inner Circle Charter Members. What this means is that your Inner Circle membership will remain free to you even if I decide at some point in the future to start charging a monthly fee to new subscribers. How cool is that?
Lastly, here’s what you’re agreeing to when you decide to become an Inner Circle member:
- All content I’ll be sending to you as an Inner Circle member is purely educational. Being an Inner Circle member does not create a client-psychotherapist relationship between you and me, or with anyone else for that matter. (I stopped providing psychotherapy long ago, though I still train & mentor leaders, entrepreneurs, work teams, therapists and other helping professionals.)
- I can’t know when a resource is right for you — at all or at a particular time time. Only you can determine that.
- How you make sense of the Inner Circle Tidbits and links you’ll receive, how you choose to utilize these, and the results you get that, are solely in your hands.
- You always remain in control of your subscription. I do not sell, rent, loan or gift my contact lists to others. The power to unsubscribe or change your email address remains in your hands at all times. The link to do this will be at the bottom of every Inner Circle email you receive from me.
- Choosing to become an Inner Circle member means you that have agreed to these terms and conditions.
Ready to Subscribe?
If Unified Human Potential is a fit for you, I invite you to expand into the 21st Century version of “having it all without sacrificing personal integrity, life balance or social responsibility.”
Start activating your free Inner Circle charter member subscription by clicking the button below.
PLEASE NOTE: After you enter your name and email, you’ll receive an email from me that contains your subscription activation link. You’ll need to click on that link to complete your subscription process. This extra step ensures that my Inner Circle only contains real people who truly want to be members, rather than also including bogus emails created by spambots. (This is unfortunately a necessary part of staying safe in the internet age. Thanks for understanding.)
[“SUBSCRIBE” BUTTON]